Diaper wrap



M. DONOVAN June 12, 1951 DIAPER WRAP Filed Jan. 19, 1949 [nverzfor J/ari'on flonovan .zzfaw s Patented June 12, 1951 UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE DIAPER WRAP Marion Donovan, Saugatuck, Conn.

Application January 19, 1949, Serial No'. 71,580

3 Claims.

covers, rubber sheets, rubber pants and similar articles were needed. Furthermore, the babys clothing became wet because with ordinary diapers they were generally pinned to the shirt-and the wetness would seep through to the shirt or other garment which had to be replaced every time a diaper was changed. An object of this invention is to overcome these objections by providing the hereinafter described. leak-proof diapercover or wrap.

In using ordinary diapers with the usual covers or wraps the babys skin all over the area covered by the diaper was generally and almost inevitably affected by the wetness of the diaper and/or the cover with the consequent irritation to the babys skin. It is another object of this invention to remove this objection.

Heretofore, the use of ordinary rubber panties hasrequi-red the mother to make two operations; first, to fasten the diaper on the child and second, putting on the babys rubber pants. It is another object of this invention to overcome these objections and permit the mother to provide leakproof protection in the same operation as diapering the child.

In diapers and covers now in use the leg openings are tight and allow little, if any, ventilation and it is an object of this invention to permit leak-proof protection with leg openings which are free and well Ventilated.

Yet another object of the invention is' to provide a diaper wrap or cover of soft, pliable plastic film which is as non-binding as the diaper itself and has no strings, bindings, Or other devices associated therewith to cause the mother to unconsciously fasten the diaper too tightly.

Further and more specific objects, features and advantages will more clearly appear from a consideration' of the detailed specification hereinafter set forth, especially when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a present preferred form which the invention may assume and which form part of the specification.

In brief and general terms, the invention concerns a diaper wrap formed of a sheet of soft, pliable plastic film which is somewhat elongated and with turned over; flaps along its side edges to cover the lateral edges of a diaper laid upon the plastic sheet.

Particularly, the plastic sheet has ends which are straight but with side edges which are smoothly and preferably concavely curved from end to end so as to have the wrap narrowerw in the middle than at its ends. The covering flaps along the side edges of the sheet are alsogof' vartable width preferably being wider at the end of the sheet which is disposed at the rear of the childs body thanalong the front and middle portion where the actual wetting is most likely to occur. The purpose of the cover flaps is to cover all the diaper except where actual wettin occurs so that the liquid, as it seeps through the diaper, will have as much of its wetted area as possible under the flaps where the wetted area comes not into contact with either the baby's skin or his garments or the bed clothing.

More particularly, the sheet wrap is adapted to have the lateral flaps and to be bent over at its ends to more securely house and hold the diaper within the wrap; The corners of the wrap sheet may be reinforced by some suitable tougher material such as cotton or linen which maybe sewed or heat-sealed thereto and take the fastener device, such as a safety pin, with less danger of tearing the plastic sheet.

The present preferred forms which the invention may assume, are illustrated in the drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the wrap showing the corner of one side flap turned over;

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on the line 2--2 of Fi 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the wrap folded into operative position with the diaper therewithin shown in dottedv lines;

Fig. 4. is a cross section taken on the line 4- '4 of Fig. 3';

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken on the line 5'-5 of, Fig. 3; V

Fig. 6 is a partial plan view of the wrap showing the rear faces of its corners reinforced;

Fig. '7 is a cross section taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a wrap with means for lacing the adjacent edges of the flaps together.

Referring now merely to the specific forms of the invention shown, the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, concern a wrap sheet [0 preferably with straight end edges !l and. I2 and with concavely curved side edges I3 and I'll so as to make the middle portion of the sheet narrower than the end portions as this is the portion which passes between the baby's legs. This. sheet is made of any suitable soft, pliable plastic and to its curved side edges l3 and M are attached by heat fusion the outer similarly curved edges of lateral flaps l5 and 16 the inner edges [1 and 18 of which are straight but lie adjacent in a non parallel relation to each other so that they lie closer together along the portion ofv the wrap which is normally disposed to the rear of the babys body and further apart in the middle portion. and the other end. portion which is normally disposed in the front of the baby's body.

As shown in Fig. 3, a diaper I9 of any suitable material is laid upon the sheet l and its side edges lie under the flaps l and i6 and its end edges fall somewhat short of the end edges of the wrap sheet H1 so that these ends of the wrap may be bent over as shown in Fig. 3 to securely hold the diaper on and within the wrap. To insert a diaper and remove same is a very easy matter since with the wrap as shown in Fig. 1, it is merely necessary to turn back the inner edges l7 and 18 of the fiaps i5 and I6 and lay the diaper on the sheet and then-fold the flaps over the lateral edges of the diaper after which the ends of the sheet Ill and the ends of the fiaps are bent over to tie in the diaper. Thus a compact unitary element is formed which can be attached to the babys body in one operation and includes the diaper as well as the water-proof cover or wrap. From an examination of Fig. 3 it will be seen that only the middle and forward portion of the diaper are well loared as these are the parts most likely to be wetted and that the rest of the diaper, especially the edges thereof, are disposed under the flaps and the bent end portions so that as the wet seeps into them they are under the folds of plastic and cannot come into contact with the tender skin of the baby.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 6, the rear faces of the sheet Ill and at the corners thereof are reinforced in any suitable manner, preferably by sewing thereat triangular pieces of woven material such as cotton or linen 2B. This will permit the corners of the wrap to be pinned to the garments of the baby while minimizing the danger of ripping the plastic sheet. a

In the form of invention shown in Fig. 8, the adjacent edges of the wrap sheet flaps may be pulled fiat and held that way by means of lacing 2| associated with suitable holes 22 formed in and along the edges of the flaps,

In summation, a simple compact unit is afforded which in one attachment operation applies to the baby a diaper and a cover therefore; it is leak-proof in that edges are sealed or turned over and moisture cannot pass through to wet bedding or clothing. Thus bedding and clothing remain dry at all times, also seepage to the edges of the diaper cannot contact the skin since these portions lie under water-proof material; the diaper can be inserted and removed with ease; the leg openings are free and not binding and well ventilated; and there is no need for the usual water-proof paraphernalia mentioned.

While the invention has been described in detail and shown with respect to the accompanying drawing, it is not to be limited to such details, since many changes and modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Hence, it is desired to cover any and all forms and modifications of the invention which may come within the language and scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A diaper wrap which is arranged to enclose a diaper and to extend over the crotch portion and up the front and back of the wearer substantially to the waist line, said wrap including an outer wall and flaps carried along the opposed longitudinal edges thereof, all formed from flexible, substantially water proof material, the outer wall being formed from an elongated blank provided with opposed lateral edges arranged to overlie the front and back of the wearer, opposed concavely curved edges which form the side edges of the wrap, the flaps being formed from narrow amsasoo elongated blanks, each having a longitudinal edge having the same general contour as the concave edge of the outer wall and being secured to such edge in end-to-end relation, the opposite edges of the flaps being substantially straight and being normally spaced from each other so as to expose the central section of the diaper which is received on the inner surface of the outer wall while the flaps overlie its opposed side portions, the opposed lateral edges of the wrap being foldable inwardly to enclose the remaining opposed edges of the diaper.

2. A diaper wrap which is arranged to enclose a diaper and to extend over the crotch portion and up the front and back of the wearer substantially to the waist line, said wrap including an outer wall and flaps carried along the opposed longitudinal edges thereof, all formed from flexible, substantially waterproof material, the outer wall being formed from an elongated blank provided with opposed lateral edges which overlie the front and back of the wearer, opposed concavely curved edges which form the side edges of the wrap, the flaps being formed from narrow elongated blanks each having a longitudinal edge having the same general contour as the concave edge of the outer wall and being secured to such edge in end-to-end relation, the opposite'edges of the flaps being substantially straight and being normally spaced from each other so as to exposed the central section of the diaper which is received on the inner surface of the outer wall while the flaps overlie its opposed side portions, such opposite edges being non-parallel so as to expose a greater width of the diaper at one end of the wrap than the other, the opposed lateral edges of the wrap being foldable inwardly to enclose the remaining opposed edges of the diaper, and the formed flaps adapted to encircle the waist of an infant.

3. A diaper wrap which is arranged to enclose a diaper and to extend over the crotch portion and up the front and back of the wearer substantially to the waist line, said wrap including an outer wall and flaps carried along the opposed longitudinal edges thereof, all formed from flexible, substantially waterproof material, the outer wall being formed from an elongated blank provided with opposed lateral edges which overlie the front and back of the wearer, such blank being of greater width at the terminals than at the center so as to form laterally extending wing portions, the flaps being formed from narrow elongated blanks each having a longitudinal edge having the same general contour as the longitudinal edge of the outer wall and being secured to such edge, the opposite edges of the flaps being normally spaced from each other so as to expose the central section of the diaper which is received on the inner surface of the outer wall while the flaps overlie its opposed side portions, the opposed lateral edges of the wrap being foldable inwardly to enclose the remaining opposed edges of the diaper.

MARION DONOVAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 478,053 Dyer June 28, 1892 1,265,539 Slater May 7, 1918 1,971,671 'Alsop Aug. 28, 1934 

